This paper is concerned with the analysis of a variable reluctance permanent magnet linear actuator (VRPMA) for low-speed linear motion applications. The concept is a combination of the simple construction of the variable reluctance actuator with the permanent magnet actuator. To design and analyze the VRPMA, two methods could be implemented, namely the magnetic equivalent circuit model and the finite element method, which enables researchers to analyze complex topology, e.g. including saturation effects, however, is often time consuming. Therefore, the magnetic equivalent model is employed to analyze the VRPMA and verified using the construction and testing of a prototype, which provides a relatively high utilization of the magnetic core, and is compact, simple and inexpensive. Finally, some modified configurations are investigated using finite element analysis.